


Welcome Back

by Dontexpectmuchplease



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers tower is back, Iron Dad, Irondad, Multi, Neither is Pepper, Set after infinity war, There are so many characters, and a lot on the movies, but May is not forgotten, but it still was sold off, but since things definitely won't work out like this, following many of your favorite Avengers fanfiction tropes, kinda inspired by the Spider-man ps4 game, like Peter and Shuri are in their mid 20’s after, like set far after, my own view on how things should play out in order for maximum satisfaction for all parties involved, some of the cartoons, some of the comics, spider son, spiderson, spoilers?, the events of the Civil War are still haunting the Avengers, there are too many tags so the rest you'll just have to read, very real intern Peter Parker, with a slight twist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2019-07-27 13:50:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16220378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dontexpectmuchplease/pseuds/Dontexpectmuchplease
Summary: Nine Years after the Civil War that split the Avengers in two. Seven years after the fateful Infinity War. Why now after so long are they finally being pardoned. What the hell took so long!





	1. The Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Civil War.  
> After Infinity War.  
> Post Endgame.  
> They have been gone for a while.  
> No internet, no contact, and no help from the outside.  
> But news is coming in the form of a director and a stack of papers. An opportunity to leave or stay.  
> It's their choice what will they do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Fandom, new characters to get down. There are so many relationships so let's try that out. This is my first time posting for this monster of a universe as well as the first time I'm handling writing a relationship in a fic. I have no idea what I'm doing and my posting will be even more sporadic. I got an idea stuck in my head and I am rolling with it. As always don't expect much please and I hope you enjoy your time reading this.

The air is humid and hot, the city beautiful and advanced, the inhabitants trained and busy. For an outsider, they would be greeted with sights, sounds, and technological advancements found nowhere else in the world. Wakanda. The country ruled by the fair King T’Challa and Queen Nakia. Home of the Black Panther and more recently the so-called “Rogue” Avengers. Fugitives from the rest of the world. Soon though…

On the horizon, an aircraft hovers with news. News that could change the world. In what way would have to be seen. The aircraft dark and foreboding against the warm colors of the sunrise behind it. Those who knew of the fallen organizations in the aftermath of the civil war between superheroes would tell you of how that ship once belonged to S.H.E.I.L.D. Inside it’s cool and protected walls a man with one eye stares out on the city. His face was unreadable and devoid of any positive emotion. In his hands, he holds the documents meant for the Avengers. These documents although small in print could be the saving light or death sentence for these long-time fugitives.

Inside a room on the outskirts of the palace, seven people sit in various areas. A man named Sam Wilson, and famed Superhero Falcon plays with a dart board. Scarlett Witch aka Wanda Maximov reads a book next to her partner Vision who has joined her after the defeat of Thanos. Natasha Romanov known as Black Widow sharpens her knives for the pure comfort of it, her friend and fellow colleague Clint Barton or Hawkeye is located thousands of miles away with his family. Bruce Banner after being declared dead or more precisely missing in action after his disappearance of two years during the battle against Ultron has joined the rogue Avengers in Wakanda as the new head of the science department. He now plays chess with the Winter Soldier named Bucky, he’s winning. Steve Rodgers more famously known as Captain America stands next to the god Thor who due to not being human has been given no rights on earth and its court systems with the exception of the country he now stands in. Both men are comparing stories on how they earned their weapons.

All is calm and nothing is in need of saving. Such as it has been for so many years. Even the view of the wondrous city before them has become lackluster. Their own company while familiar has become monotonous to a point. For the heroes who at one point would save the world regularly life has grown dull.

Unbeknownst to them, the ship has landed and the man is walking in the great halls his trench coat blowing behind him showcasing two pistols. A man on a mission he stalks like a predator towards prey. Hell-bent on destroying the false sense of peace the Avengers of old have convinced themselves of. This was never a permanent arrangement. It was never supposed to take this long but they had to know this wouldn’t last. This wasn’t home.

A knock sounds at the door. The rapping of knuckles startles everyone from their original tasks. Rogers being the closest open the door. Upon doing so he is met with the cold stare of fury by none other than Nick Fury. His eyes widen and he steps aside. All eyes fall upon the old director. Natasha, Wanda, and Bucky all stand at attention at the new arrival. King T’Challa, Queen Nakia, and Okoye enter beside Nick.

Before anyone has the chance to speak Fury strides over towards the coffee table and slams a stack of papers onto the table. Bruce recovers first and takes the papers reading over the contents all while Fury waits. Bruce’s eyebrows shoot up and he begins describing the documents.

“Each and every one of us has at least a page here. Those that are fugitives are to be given the opportunity of pardons”. Steve, Bucky, Wanda, Natasha, and Sam all share a look of disbelief at that.

“Thor and Vision are both to be registered as citizens with the rights everyone else are entitled to. I will be given rights to not be hunted down as the Hulk and Bruce Banner will no longer be registered as missing in action”.

“What’s the catch?” Sam asks.

“We have to sign the revised accords and just like Scott and Clint for a large period of time we will be sentenced to supervised house arrest. The house being the Avengers Tower and I’m guessing the qualified supervision they talk about is Tony Stark. We are also to attend mandatory meetings to and I quote ‘ensure rehabilitation for every occupant agreeing to the terms and conditions”’.

“Figures Stark would be considered as qualified supervision”.

“What would the meetings entail?” Wanda asks remaining calm.

“It doesn’t say”. Bruce replies back and everyone instantly becomes more hesitant.

Before the conversation can continue Director Fury stops them.

“Last chance. For all of you. You have a day to decide and pack up. I as well as the offer leaves tomorrow”.

And with that, he walks out of the room. The king looks exasperated while he and others follow suit.

“Short and to point as always” Natasha claims.

“Why now?” All eyes turn to Bucky.

“What do you mean Buck?” Steve questions.

“I mean don’t get me wrong I don’t really know the tower like you guys and last time we were there was a huge fight. But you all were on a team right? A team that helped save the world more than once. Why would it take the government so long to get you pardoned? Or even at least be registered as no longer MIA”.

“He makes a good point. Why after nearly a decade has this issue been resolved? Why not after a few months after the civil war? Why not after the Infinity War with Thanos when everyone saved half the universe?” Natasha inquires.

“I believe that could be a result of the fact that no one was made aware of the events of infinity war and to who actually participated in the end result. The thanks went to Nebula as she returned everything to normal”. Vision pipes in.

“That doesn’t explain why now. Why after all this time Vision”. Sam retorts, spite for the situation leaking into his words.

“Something must have changed”. Bruce mutters.

“What?”

“I believe what Banner is saying is that in order for something so inactive to become active once again something terrible must have either already happened or will end up happening because we stayed here” Thor speaks putting his views in.

“If there is even a possibility of that being true we already have our answer on what to do” Steve states.

“But Steve you hate even the mere concept of the accords”. Bucky states confused by his friends’ actions.

“That hasn’t changed, but the situation has. Nine years ago I chose to put those beliefs above those of several of my teammates. Because of my choice innocents got hurt. Now another situation has risen and if there is even the slightest possibility that me declining this document endangers more people, then you can be damn sure that I’ll swallow my pride and sign”.

A beat of silence follows.

Then another.

And another.

…

“I’d still like to think on it for a few more hours before I sign my soul away to the government. But, I can’t say I don't agree with the argument you're making Steve”. Wanda sighs in defeat and the peace of Wakanda their temporary home has finally been broken.

The year is 2025 and The Avengers are finally reuniting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact this chapter was originally going to be nearly double what it is now. But I'm tired and I'm always eager to share no matter how bad and unedited the work is. If everything goes well the second part should contain the other half of this chapter that I'm too tired to write up right now. I'll probably wake up tomorrow and edit the chapter further. But for now please remember that all comments are welcome. Have a nice day.


	2. Signing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The signing of the accords.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back for a small while. I once again had too much running on my mind and the chapter is barely edited but I also have had an almost non-stop stream of assignments and personal troubles so please be gentle. 
> 
> Moving on to the actual chapter. It's not much but its something. As with every chapter, I hope you enjoy.

The rogue, soon to be ex, Avengers enter one of the smaller meeting rooms in the Wakandan palace. Already there stands King T’Challa, Queen Nakia, Princess Shuri, and Nick Fury. On the long table a stack of papers has been placed and a singular pen next to it.

“Have you all made your decision?” Nick Fury’s voice rings in the warm sunlit hall. The sunlight rising further up the walls as the sunrise comes over the horizon.

There are a few nods and even a smile from Thor. Steve, despite feeling that his legs are going to fall out on him, walks forward first all the while reliving the guilt and responsibility for the creation of the Civil war that split the Avengers apart. He sits down in one of the luxurious chairs and takes a copy of the accords to begin reading. He may intend on signing, but he still doesn’t approve and wants to know the ins and outs of what he is signing up for. Soon the rest follow his lead and even the king and princess are reading it over. 

Nick Fury watches for Steve’s and Natasha’s reactions the most and he is not disappointed. In the decade they were gone several revisions have been made to the accords to make it friendlier to mutants and vigilantes. 

Bucky’s eyes widen in surprise at the new brainwashing section for enhanced individuals. Thor is pleasantly surprised that there are rules to accommodate Asgardian culture as well as alien lifeforms and mythological creatures. Wanda and Vision smile at each other on the laws outlining artificial intelligence and protections for them as well. Natasha and Bruce breathe easier in relief because of the new article revolving around secret identities and that while they still have to reveal personal information to their government and legal authorities it wouldn’t be shared with the general public, all while being protected by only the highest ranking official in Shield and one Charles Xavier. 

Steve’s brow furrows more at the sections that haven’t been altered, however. Many of these articles had outlined common procedures to deal with medical care for injured individuals both enhanced and civilian along with damage control on city streets, appointed clean-up crews, reparation costs for people on farms who lost crops, or the therapy bills for those traumatized by superhero activity just down the road, housing and schooling for homeless and orphaned mutants, protection for results of unethical experimentation, compensation for loss of family members, and just about anything you could think of to ensure the safety and security of the innocents caught in the crossfire. 

When Steve had refused the accords, in the beginning, he had only listened to the bad things. The things it hadn’t done to protect. But as he sits here now reading the unaltered pieces from the accord that had broken his family apart he can’t think of anything more he wants to do than to see Tony again and apologize. 

He had done wrong to both Starks he realizes now. With Howard, the man had given him a purpose, transformed him from a fragile boy with a big heart to a super soldier inspiring millions across America, and had given him a life worthy of dying for. 

Tony had given him a home, a family, and while not giving him a purpose had given him so much more, he gave him a family worth living for, a hope in the darkness of losing everyone, and stability after a life full of bullying and war. 

He hadn’t listened to Howard when he crashed that plane in the artic, he hadn’t listened to Tony with the accords. He lost the most important things to him both times including both Starks. 

They might have been egotistical, but they were geniuses and knew right from wrong, even if right meant some sacrifice. They both had big hearts not just for those close to them but hearts that extended to everyone they knew and bled into everything they did. Their hearts were so encompassing that you could sometimes forget that it was there because it always surrounded you. And yet that is just what he had done.

He had known glimpses of what his ‘death’ had done to Howard. It had made him cold protective to the point of destruction. Strict beyond belief. Steve’s death had changed him to where his big heart had withdrawn to avoid breaking and because of it had caused him to form no new attachments including to his own son. He could only hope that his actions hadn’t caused the same in Tony. 

Seeing these accords only amplified how stupid Steve felt about his actions and all he wanted to do now was make it up to the son of the man who had made him something, to ask forgiveness to a man he wronged since birth, even if it was the last thing he would do.

He stood up abruptly, the chair squeaking with his movement. Everyone looked up and everyone sans Natasha, Vision, and Fury looked surprised. Steve reached for the pen.

“Where do I sign?” He asked looking the director of SHEILD straight in the eye. 

Fury then gave the Captain a single sheet of paper and Steve began to sign all while saying in his mind that he will repent for every atrocity he has caused to the stark family. As he finishes he gives the paper back to Fury and the rest one by one follow, once more following in actions and not thoughts. 

They all stand and as they begin to leave for the quinjet and avengers tower they say goodbyes to the royal family that has housed them for nearly a decade. Shuri hugs Bucky and tells Vision to visit whenever he needs repairs because “those idiots in that tower can never compare to Wakandan tech”. It receives a chuckle from the two men and even Bruce can’t help but snort. 

The queen and king graciously say goodbye and even give a few hugs here and there. They leave the palace in a crowd of old friends only to meet up with the stern-faced Nick Fury. He motions them on and they begin loading their supplies and belongings there. Some choose to take one last look at the horizon which has greeted them. It is peaceful and anxious all in one. 

Some are more stressed than others. Thor and Natasha are already boarded and Banner is trying to comfort Barnes in the corner that “of course things are going to be okay if Tony wasn’t up for them back they wouldn’t even have the opportunity”. 

It warms Steve’s heart and fuels him with an impatience that typically only a child on Christmas Eve has. This is an opportunity and one he is sure not to miss. The ex-rogue Avengers enter the new and improved quinjet taking one last look to wave to Wakanda.

For now, they are homeward bound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wanted to establish that Steve has done some bad things and that he realizes this. I don't think Tony was completely in the right either but that is an idea I want to describe in a later chapter.
> 
> Steve in my mind saw something bad and refused to let that happen especially since it was being done to people he knew. But now that everything has taken place and there has been clear time to think and reflect he sees that his actions did have a role in the splitting of the team and in the harming of many of the individual Avengers, especially Tony. He himself was hurt that Tony did certain actions but I think he would take the movie back to the Avengers Tower as an opportunity to heal and mend a relationship. They might not be as close as before but they might be friends and at this point, that is what I feel all Steve really wants.
> 
> That is just my thoughts though. Feel free to add yours in the comments I'm actually interested to know. Also if you find any errors or criticisms feel free to tell me and I'll try my best to find and fix them.
> 
> Next up traveling and arriving at Stark Tower.
> 
> With that being said I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for reading.


	3. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ex-rogue Avengers finally meet at Avengers tower Yay!
> 
> But who's this guy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're finally at the plot place. Only took 3 chapters.
> 
> As always thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

“Do you think Tony will be okay with us being there?” Bucky asks.

“I don’t’ see why he wouldn’t be?” Bruce replies.

They had been locked in Bucky rapid-fire questions and worries for nearly three hours now. The scientist has responded to each one of them calmly and eloquently for the first half but it has started to drain him.

“What’s with forming your response like a question?” Sam enters the conversation. Tossing two soda cans towards Bucky and Bruce respectively.

“Well, the thing is I really can’t know. After all Tony didn’t even want to talk to Steve and you guys when the world was damn near ending so why would he want to now”. Bruce claims with a subtle slumping of his posture.

Bruce is still surprised at the stubbornness displayed that day. It seemed like such a quick fix but by the time he had contacted the, at the time, Rogue Avengers. Tony was long gone. Then came the battle with Thanos and the realization the world was ending. He hadn’t gotten a lot of time to reflect on that day either as he was either busy helping repairs in Wakanda, assisting Shuri with new weaponry, or spending time with Thor learning about the ‘Civil War’, it was a lot.

“I suppose you have a point but then why would we be offered to come back?” Sam says with a quizzical expression. Taking a sip of the carbonated cherry syrup water. His face then melts into delight at the flavor. It had been so long since he had a soda of any kind that even a Fenta cherry tasted amazing.

“Again don’t really know. Could be that we are needed and Tony is doing it out of necessity, but it could be that he has gotten lonely and truly does want us back”. Bruce says with a skeptical tone. Even he knows that if that was the case they would have been back a long time ago.

“Unlikely, but that’s probably because of me”. Bucky mopes holding his grape soda like a lifeline.

“Jesus man stop thinking like that! It not only your fault. We all had a part to play in that shit-fest”. Sam exclaims. Over their 9 years as fugitives, a good five was spent becoming good friends. 

They had a friendly sort of rivalry but that didn’t stop Sam from caring immensely for Bucky and vice versa. After that battle against Thanos’s army, The Winter Soldier and Falcon became bonded like brothers in war and their shared experience of fading to ash. To hear his friend think it’s all his fault hurts Sam too.

“Everyone on this godamn ship thinks it’s all their fault the falling out happened”. Sam says throwing a can at Bucky’s face to get him to snap out of his surly mood. 

“Well let me tell you something, Barnes. Natasha feels like she betrayed Tony because she left later than everyone else. Clint feels that he put Caps opinion too high and that his rescue of Wanda was the big turning point that caused things to get as bad as they did! Wanda feels that her capture and destruction of several areas caused the innocent deaths that sealed our fate in isolation. Even Cap puts everything on his shoulders because he feels it was his decisions that caused this mess!” Sam is fluctuating between yelling and talking.

“I did cause this though” Steve pipes up. Sam turns his head so fast that one could swear his head did a 360 like the embodiment of his superhero name.

“Not the fucking time Rodgers, We'll deal with your shit right after I tell him what the fuck is up” Sam hissed. Steve nodded. Sam turns back to Bucky immediately going softer at the blank look across the man’s face.

“Look I’m not saying this to discount your belief that you did something wrong. In fact, I’m going to say it right now what you did was fucked up”. Bruce gives Sam a dismayed look while the rest of the team frowned. Bucky looked up though.

“But what I did was fucked up as well. Hell Stark gave me everything I could ever want at the drop of the hat and the second I get a chance to betray that gift I do so because of my superstitions” Sam continues on getting more depressed as he goes.

“Sam I…” Said Avenger cuts the soldier off with a raised finger, needing but a moment to collect himself.

“We each had our reasons. Cap cared about you, we all cared for Wanda, and so we made some stupid choices with a good heart. You shouldn’t have to carry the weight all your own, just your part. If we do that we can make it through. Do you understand?” Sam asks eyes demanding only a truthful answer.

“I do. I’ll try my best but I make no promises” Bucky responds staring right back. Sam left it be and started talking to Steve but Bruce could tell that the instant the bird hero turned away Bucky went back to looking guilty. Bruce couldn’t help but sigh. 

They had six more hours to go and everyone was already tense. Anxiety over seeing Tony and Rodey again respectively has everyone on the edge of their seat. Nick Fury isn’t helping. He hasn’t answered a single question even when it pertained to the state of New York. Thor kept asking about the “man of iron” and his current state if health.

Wanda and Vision were cuddling on one of the larger seats and it made Bruce happy. From what he heard both their lives had been rough and so to see them content was a happy sight. But that did bring up another thing that really bothers the world famous scientist. From his perspective, it seemed like the second he and Thor disappeared to the cosmos the team had fallen apart. When he came back from basically witnessing the genocide of an entire people he crash lands on earth to find that Tony is engaged but also not engaging with almost every Avenger. 

Then he finds out that the AI he and Tony built has achieved the ability to feel loved and is dating the girl with the weird mind powers. Then he meets up with Steve Rodgers and suddenly he and Tony aren’t on speaking terms but it’s completely fine because he and his best friend from childhood are back together. For a long time, people left him out of the loop and even after all this time it still feels like some members of the team are hiding things, important things, about what had happened while he was gone.

One he really wants to know is why Sam won’t talk about who had beat him and Bucky at the airport fight, and why Bucky always looks like he is in pain when Tony or his father are mentioned. Why won’t anyone tell him these type of things? For once though everyone is quiet, except Thor of course still trying to get something out of the stone that is Fury, and Bruce might just get some sleep. Lord knows he is going to need it when facing Tony Stark after so many years apart.

And so he shuts his eyes and lets sleep embrace him.

* * *

 

Clint is beyond ecstatic. He has very nearly thrown himself out of the car just because he recognized some of these buildings. He had returned home and been able to see his children grow up into successful and functional beings, or well as functional as a ten-year-old, a fifteen-year-old and an eighteen-year-old could be anyway. He still gets to see his children as often as possible but for now, his house arrest which has almost expired will be moved to the Avengers Tower until it expires. 

Because of his threat level and lack of ‘proper supervision’ he had been placed on house arrest far longer than the Ant Guy had, but he is not complaining as every second spent with his wife and kids made Clint feel like the happiest man on Earth. 

Now the time had come though. He was being sent to help the now ex-rogue Avengers settle into house arrest territory, and while he would be off his sentence far sooner, because of the supervision of Stark Tower, however, he estimates that they should get off of it in around six months. And while after so long being separate for so long, Tony Stark is known for making every day memorable. 

Still, six months and they’ll work as a team again. Earths mightiest heroes once more. It’s so little time to catch up and reconcile and while hard Clint has no doubt that his close friends will be able to do what needs to be done. They always have after all, why should this time be any different?

He’s excited to see his best friend again, to see the captain, Bruce, his fellow bird bro, sweet Wanda, Bucky, Thor, and Vision. But there was no one he was more excited to see than Tony Stark. Around two years after the proclaimed Infinity War, he had realized that while his actions were justified he had still put the metaphorical straw that broke the camel’s back into place and shifted that whole altercation into all-out war. 

Now he just wants to reunite with everyone and maybe sit down over some of Nat’s chocolate and just talk out everything that had happened. Maybe he wasn’t sure of everyone’s role in the mess or what had been said behind closed bars but as he had learned his wife communication is key.

The team had no idea that he was currently pulling into one of the private parking lots of the tower. They had no idea he was even accompanying them at all. He had sent sparse letters through the years telling of his family and status and never got nor expected to receive any mail back. He was so ready to see their faces when he greeted them.

He stepped out with the police officer just in time to see the new quinjet landing. As the door opened out walked Nick Fury followed by some very tired allies. When vision noticed him Clint could see him pointing in his direction as all the others followed his finger. Their looks of surprise were so worth the bone-crushing hug he received from Nat and the death glare he received after that just read I’m only pretending to be mad but it is so good to see you’. 

Clint would swear that he was grinning ear to ear at the greetings, but his face fell when he saw Fury looking expectedly at the doors to Stark Tower. Preparing to meet Happy the head of security and no doubt one of Tony’s closest friends after the Avengers split, everyone tense waiting for the burly man.

Instead, however, they are greeted by the sight of blond hair with two shaved areas on the side of a head in the shape of lightning bolts. Blue eyes and while certainly not scrawny not as tall and as broad chested as the man they were expecting. Young and clearly in a state of controlled awed as he stepped forward. 

Clint and the Avengers tried to ready themselves with weapons they didn’t have. This was not what they were expecting and they weren’t quite sure how to respond when the young man finally reached them.

“Hello everyone, It’s such a pleasure to meet you. Super big fan by the way”. The man held out his hand. Steve was the one who reached his hand out in return seeming to break everyone out of their dazed state. This wasn’t what they had expected but then again, after everything that’s happened, they shouldn’t have expected everything to be the same. For now, they’ll just roll with the punches Clint mused.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too son, but while you seem to know who I am and can’t say the same”. Steve responds with a charming smile.

“Oh. Yeah right. Totally forgot about that”. The young man stammers out.

“My name is Eugene Thompson head of security here at Avengers Tower and your personal guard while under house arrest. 

But please call me Flash”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun  
> dun dun  
> DUUUN!!
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment.
> 
> Up next meeting the head of Avengers Tower.


	4. Welcome Back Ex-Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash shows the team around.  
> The secretary is in a chipper mood.  
> But at the top of the Tower, a reunion is set in motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna notice errors the second I post this I just know it.  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading.

“Mr. Thompson” Nick Fury says with a dry unamused tone. Many of the arriving personal were a bit surprised to realize that the director knew this young man who had only been gushing about how much he admired every person there and what they had done.

  
“Yes, Director Fury?” The kid asks. Fury raises one lone eyebrow and looks toward the tower. Flash follows his gaze and his eyes widen in recognition.

“Right! I should probably get everyone in the Tower”. Flash says bringing his hand to rub at the back of his neck. The nervous action looking strange for someone who can definitely be called buff.

“That would be best, yes”. Fury responds with an almost fatherly tone. Wait what! Since when does Fury speak even relatively fatherly? He is clear and to the point, not this! These are the thoughts of every Avenger that has ever met the famed director of SHIELD, and even those who only know the reputation look surprised.

“Alright, everybody! Please follow me”. Thompson says with a clap of his hands and a turn on his heel. The Avengers followed suit. As they walked the Tower loomed over them. The ex-rogues stared in nostalgia at the tower that had housed them for a long time all those years ago. This was the place where the group had bonded in saving the world. While they were here they had taken it for granted. They definitely wouldn’t make the same mistakes twice. But while they were gone they had forgotten how looming and massive it could be. Pepper really did a good job with it.

As they reached the front doors. Flash reached into his coat pocket put an ID to a scanner which then opened up the automated door. A chipper feminine voice welcomes them. 

“Hello, again Flash. The rogues and director are with you I’m guessing?” the voice is no doubt an AI but it lacks the Irish accent of Friday. Vision and Bruce show concern. What happened to Friday?

“You know it doll”. Flash responds with a smile. He ushers everyone in. As Vision, located in the back, enters the building the head of security follows behind swiping his ID card once more to close the doors.

“So your security badges and ankle bracelets are up front. The pretty girl sitting at the desk there is named Cindy and she’ll help you get your things before we head up to the top”. Flash motions for the Avengers to go on up ahead of him. Everyone then as a horde of seven walks up to Cindy. Flash and Fury stay in the back seeming to catch up with each other. The officer that had arrived with Clint already bringing out the necessary tools to attach the ankle bracelets. 

“Hi, you guys. My name is Cindy and I am a secretary here at Avengers Tower. For security purposes please state your name so that the system can give you the proper ID badges. Clint shrugs his shoulders and takes the lead.

“Clint Barton” He states. Cindy clicks a few keys and then a printer kicks into gear. Cindy spins in her chair and grabs the ID.

“Here ya go. Fresh off the press”. She says as she passes Clint his card. 

“The red indicates a person of interest or importance and the Gold grants all access to rooms in the Tower. However, that black shield symbol has been added to help our security system make sure you can’t leave. Until your house arrest is up, even the lowest level employee can override your access to certain places. You will always be allowed in the designated Avenger floors unless one of only four people restrict that access”. Cindy says as chipper as can be proceeding to give Clint a new ankle bracelet.

The others seeing nothing else to do but to get started begin walking up one by one stating their name. The only difference happens when Bruce and Thor walk up. They are given the ID with the black shield but are not given an ankle bracelet. 

“Hey what’s up with that? Why don’t they get one of these electronic chains?” Sam shoots the question looking at Cindy. She blinks owlishly at him for a second before regaining her composure.

“In case you have forgotten the entire reason you are on house arrest in the first place is for being a traitor to not only America but over half the world. An event that Mr. Odinson and Dr. Banner were not present for. If I was in your position I wouldn’t be complaining about being stuck here when the alternative is far, far worse. So sit down and wait for the process to finish”. She states still with that happy voice and smile, but her words showing a much harsher venom than expected. Flash snorts.

“Yeah, I forgot to tell you she doesn’t take shit from anybody and isn’t too fond of some of you. I guess being forced to watch one too many PSAs does that to a person”. Flash states trying to suppress giggles threatening to spill out. While not knowing about the comment about PSAs even though the blush on Steve’s face did worry Bucky they were all more worried about Sam. Sam just looks shocked and after a few minutes of a creepy smile on Cindy’s part, combined with fear of facing her wrath, slowly begins to sit down on the polished marble floor waiting for his ankle bracelet to be attached. A worrying behavior indeed.

The seemingly sweet secretary gets right back to work not changing her demeanor at all. Flash walks up to her desk just as Bucky receives his things and raises his hand. Without hesitation and without looking away from her work she gives her security a high five finally smiling with barely contained glee at Flashes whispered ‘good job’.

Once everyone gets their ankle bracelets on and adjusted correctly they stand and Flash leads them to an elevator located away from the other ones. Tony Starks personal lift. Heart rates immediately rise. The Avengers are finally going to get to apologize. They are finally going to be able to ask questions to make sure he is all right. Things have obviously changed. Happy isn’t head of security anymore, apparently. Even Friday has been replaced who knows how much Tony has changed. Bruce fears his science bro might be too far gone and Steve fears that he might have caused Tony to go cold and distant.

Everyone piles onto the big elevator, Fury, and Thompson entering last. Flash swipes his ID and calls out the building’s AI.

“Floor 90 please”. The lift begins to move and it is a slow ride up. Thor looks out on New York City. His brow furrowing. 

“It looks different, doesn’t it? Like something has gone horribly wrong. Do you not feel it too, friends?” Thor states and if that’s not ominous Bucky doesn’t know what is. There is a lull as they continue to rise. 

“So Tony, how is he doing?” Steve says trying to release the tension from Thor’s comment. It backfires horribly as he can see out of the corner of his eye Flash twitch. The mood drops even lower. The young head of security takes a shaky breath about to give an answer but before he can start he is cut by Director Fury. 

“None of your fucking business Rodgers”. He states with a dry tone, and suddenly Natasha begins to have a sneaking suspicion that whoever they are going to meet isn’t Tony at all.  
The elevator dings announcing their arrival.

“Welcome to floor 90 rogues. Boss is waiting in the next room for you”. The AI states and there is an emotion to the voice that no one can quite place. They walk towards the door, different shoes echoing or squeaking with the silence, and before Flash or Fury can even say anything Natasha, the Black Widow, swipes her ID in the scanner so fast one would have thought she meant to destroy it. 

The door opens to reveal a rather dim room. In the corner, the Avengers can notice yet another young man sitting at a computer in casual clothes and displaying a mop of black bed-headed hair. He stops when he hears the door opens and his breathing becomes rapid. In another corner, a young woman’s face is shrouded in shadow but Clint knows the feeling of cold, judgmental eyes anywhere from years of working with Natasha. It the center stands yet another young man this time wearing more professional clothes. His head is perked up but he remains otherwise calm.

“Thanks, Karen, Fury, Flash I think I can take it from here”. He sounds young but Flash and Fury nod silently and leave the door shutting behind them. The ex-rogue Avengers are now

“No problem Mini Me” the AI responds with a soft but teasing voice. ‘Mini Me’ sighs, his shoulders slightly drooping. The young man collects himself and turns around. His eye are a warm vibrant brown with intelligence in them. And while his hair is far lighter than Tony, Captain Americas first thought on this man is that he is Tony’s son.

“Welcome Avengers to your new operating base within this tower. I’m sure I’m not who you were expecting but it’s a pleasure to meet you all none the less”. The young man says.

“And who are you, might I ask?” Vision queries.

“My name is Peter Parker, the guy in the chair is Ned Leeds, the lovely lady glaring at you all is this tower’s top marketing agent Michelle Jones, and you have all already met Flash, the head of security”. 

“Now with introductions out of the way let’s get started on getting you settled in shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the reunion you all wanted right?  
> Up next: Settling into the tower and turning on the news.  
> Feel free to leave a comment and I hope you have a good rest of your day.


	5. The Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers are told where they can and cannot go.  
> They meet a doctor and some... strange things are going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kicked my behind into next year, I swear.  
> This entire thing took around 4 days to compile together and is the longest thing I have written for a single chapter ever.  
> It added 6598 words to the story. This thing has doubled the story. It's 12 pages when in 11 font in a Word document and I could not be happier about it. I wish I could have edited it more as there are no doubt mistakes but as far as content goes I'm happy at how this turned out.
> 
> When building this chapter I ended up fleshing out the entire Alternate Universe the story is set in. I got a good idea as to how I want to reveal things and how I am going to portray certain characters and their interactions with others. Despite being drained it was a fun thing to do.
> 
> With all that said I am pleased to present Chapter 5. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I had fun writing it.

“Let's get you settled in”. Peter finished his introduction. His voice was mature but there was a lilt to it that made him still so young. The man apparently named Ned Leeds has stars in his eyes when looking at them. Bucky finds it extremely difficult to deal with it. Doesn't the man know who he is? What he's done?

The kid, god all of them are so young even Wanda is a good bit older than them, guides them out of the room in a motion Bucky can only describe as goofy if the way the kid's arms swing in a dramatic pose is anything to go by. Peter waves goodbye to Ned and Michelle Jones. They enter the elevator once again. 

“Floor 100 please Karen”. Peter voices to the AI. Her name is apparently Karen. Good to know. 

When they exit they are greeted with a pristine meeting and showcase room. It looks very high tech. There are glass walls surrounding them. But the most impressive thing about this has to be the glass wall leading out to a loading bay, the cities skyline out beyond it. Bucky hasn't really had any experience with this building so everything looks so impressive.

Bucky turns to Steve and finds a different story to tell. Steve looks heartbroken at the sight of this place. In fact, many of the people he's been stuck with for 9 years now look sadder at the sight of this room, the rest either have a nostalgic and reminiscent face or are stone cold in the case of Natasha and Vision. After so long though he can tell their defenses right away. Every Avenger is hurting and Bucky can take a guess why.

Peter leads the team out of the room and onto the giant landing pad. The quinjet already waits for them. Peter greets the pilot with hug telling them to have a good break from his work. The pilot leaves and Peter turns to them.

“The sooner we unload and unpack your things the sooner we can get them to your rooms and you can all pass out,” Peter says with a smile.

“That would be very much appreciated friend Peter. Banner looks just about to do so regardless”. Thor ever the optimist says with a light shake to the doctor's shoulders. True enough the action seems to shock Banner awake. He does look really tired Bucky notes.

The enter the storage compartment and begin the task of finding their things and bringing them back to the room. After around fifteen minutes most of the storage is transferred and organized. Wanda and Vision had put their stuff together with no problem, but Clint, who had his stuff stored in the quinjet before he even left his house to travel here by car, and Sam had apparently insisted on putting their specified boxes on the same roller. The two were now arguing over who deserves the roller more.

During this, Bucky works up the courage to ask Peter a question he's been wondering about.

“So Peter”. He begins awkwardly but succeeding in getting Peter's head to snap up as he begins to carry Vision’s third box of paintings. “I have been wondering. If Flash is the head of security, and that MJ girl is the lead marketer, what is it that you and that Ned boy do?” Peter blinks at the question. He puts down the box.

“Well, it's quite simple what Ned does in theory. He's the building’s primary technician expert. As far as I go, well, I'm just an intern really. In fact, this entire building is run purely by interns as our CEO is currently gone”. Peter says.

That information is a surprise. It's good to know that Stark still owns this place, but to put it in the hands of interns? That seems like a dangerous mistake, and what does he mean that the CEO is gone. Is Tony gone forever or is he just taking a break?

Before he can ask another question though, the quinjet is unloaded and the pilot is back, taking his opportunity to talk to Peter away. Flash and a couple of guards arrive ready to help put the stacks of boxes onto some of the staff elevators.

Peter and Flash high-five when they see each other. They seem like good friends, Bucky notes, but then again so many enemies have looked the same way. Flash takes the boxes down one floor as Peter leads the Avengers to the personal elevator. This time they're heading for floor 99. 

Once there Buckley sees just a row of doors. Turns out floor 99 is the bedrooms for the Avengers. 

“I don't know if you remember which rooms are yours but they are the same as when you left them. Bruce apparently knows exactly which room is his as he walks up to a door and opens it. He stills and proceeds to walk in, a thump is heard followed by some snoring. It makes a few people crack a smile. Everyone starts to enter their previous rooms but Bucky never had one and feels too weird to ask for one. Guess that means he's sleeping on the couch. Vision stops at his room and looks to Wanda then Peter.

“Mr. Parker, would it be alright if I decided to stay with Wanda? Mr. Barnes can have my room”. Vision says. Wanda smiles and Bucky appreciates the robot so, so much. Peter smiles and says he sees no problem with it.

Bucky is then placed in Visions old room which happens to be right next to Steve's current room. A perfect arrangement. He walks in and is struck by an influx of dust in his lungs. It looks like Peter was right about nothing changing because there is a huge, previously undisturbed, layer of dust coating everything. He’ll clean it up to make it his own, but the sight is still an odd one.

For now, though they are being called to take a tour with Peter. 

* * *

 

Bruce is tired. So, so, SO tired. He gets to sleep in a bed, his old dusty bed to be exact but still, and now he wakes up to the sound of Peter asking everyone to join him on a tour of the places they are allowed to go. He just wants to sleep but he knows it’s a good idea to actually find out what is going on at the tower. It is their new home for who knows how long now anyway.

So the doctor makes his way out into the hall where Peter mark's off everyone's room with a holographic name tag located above the door frame. He notices one at the end of the hall a door marked Spider-Man. ‘Huh,’ Bruce thinks. ‘I wonder who that is’.

Peter shows them the bathrooms and as he is about to describe how everything is cleaned without a janitor, Sam begins screaming.

It’s loud, it’s blood-curdling, and Sam kinda sounds like one of those teenage girls in the 90s slasher films. The once mighty Falcon is pointing at something in the bathroom and hoLy HeLL wHAt Is ThAt?!

It’s all that Bruce can manage to think of as a horde of spiders seemingly comes out of the walls. They are fatter than normal but that just makes them even more terrifying as he didn't know what they are or the threat they posed.

As Thor is about to swing his battle ax to decimate the creepy crawlers, Peter steps between them and the spiders.

“STOP!!!!” the kid shouts, waving his hands frantically. “They won't hurt you. So please don't hurt them”. Thor calms down but Sam is huddled in a corner shaking. 

Peter pushes the door until its closed with his foot and presses a button on his watch. There a scuttle inside and Sam flinches. Bucky places a grounding hand on the man to calm him down. Peter then opens the door again to show that the spiders are gone and Peter promises that it is how it'll stay.

The bathroom is clean, pristinely so. But for now, the Avengers might just want to hold it should they need to go. Bucky is able to get Sam to stand, an urges the man to take deep breaths. Poor Sam, it can't be easy having arachnophobia.

“I'm so sorry Mr. Falcon sir”. Peter apologized. “They didn't mean any harm”.

“It’s okay kid. It's fine really” Sam takes shuddering breaths answering Peter apologetic babbling. It would be funny if not for the circumstance Bruce thinks.

Peter insists on getting them food after that. Bruce can’t necessarily complain as the only thing the team has gotten to eat has been a couple of cherry sodas on the plane ride here. Peter tells Flash where the group is heading off to and the security guard gives a thumbs up and what Bruce thinks he recognizes as a fist bump before he returns to unloading everyone's boxes into their now marked rooms.

They go down to floor 98 and god all the memories. The kitchen and living room area. Bruce remembers sitting in this room discussing and stressing over Ultron before he and Thor went into space. It was this place where he and Tony were still science buds.

Just being in this room reminded Bruce of his last meeting with Tony. The streets flooding with people as they rushed past. The wizard and fellow doctor beginning to release an orange glow from his hands. Tony's new nanotechnology crafted suit. His failing at being the Hulk. Then he sees Tony flying up to the alien aircraft. A suit flies past him as reached the top. Suddenly he's gone. Just like that. 

But enough reminiscing. There is a sandwich everyone is partaking in and Banner has never been one to stand down perfectly good food. Besides the Tower is still here so Tony's gotta be fine. Right?

Now that he has a sandwich and everyone's happily munching after the initial reaction from those who lived Wakanda at the pure nostalgia that is a turkey sub. Bruce starts to take notice of this area. Unlike the rooms which had looked desolate. This one looked lived in, just not by grown adults. There were several game stations. The TV was set to the Incredibles. Half-way through the movie. There were legos strewn across the floor. A death star, the Millennium Falcon, Stark Tower, and was that the Wakandan Palace. How did people even get that?

But it's not just legos and kids stuff. Now that he looked closer Bruce can see various wires and toolsets in some of the corners. While he can see Clint and Natasha notice the child stuff, he sees Bucky notice the wiring. It makes sense that he would notice that over everything else, he was after all always surrounded by wires, especially couped up in Shuri’s lab day-in day-out while in Wakanda.

The others start to take notice of the objects in the room to and Wanda looks slyly at Peter. Bruce can see the kid go red and motion for her to be quiet out of the corner of his eye. Bruce tries but fails in let's a few quiet chuckles escape. Of course, Peter would be into kid stuff, because why not?

Peter can tell people have caught on so he decides to move the tour along. Once again they are in the elevator. They arrive at floor 97. The mere sight of it makes Banner so, so happy. Two gigantic labs occupy this space.

Based on the chemical stations and safety precautions installed on the left portion and the mechanical parts on the right, Bruce can take an educated guess that the floor is separated by function. The right must be the mechanical portion where new phones, iPads and other marketable to the public devices are designed and made. The left, however, is so much more interesting to Bruce. Starks were always good at machines but Banner thrived in fields like chemistry and biology and based on those beakers that is just what that section was for.

As they walk through the lab they are told of the safety precautions and that there won't be to many people working here. 

“In fact, there is a good chance you'll never see more than one or two people in this area at a time”. Parker tells them smiling. He seems very happy in this environment, the doctor notices, not that he can blame the kid.

“One of my colleague's favorite rooms is just below this one. It's a room with a unique quality that is perfect for training”. Peter says and Bruce catches a sparkle in his eyes. Steve and Bucky both raise their eyebrows. Sam deflates.

“That's what you said bout the bathroom too”. Peter's smile falls at that.

“This is different, no more swarms I promise”. Peter says calmly. Banner notices, however, that he doesn't say any more ‘spiders’. ‘But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see’ the doctor thinks as they enter the elevator once more. 

* * *

 

Natasha has been relatively quiet through this tour. She wasn’t too freaked out by the unused bedrooms. She didn’t freak out over the spiders. The food was alright and the lab was only note-worthy by who would be in there and when. She likes observing the little things through this tour. She and Clint have gotten time to catch up on their lives and she is so happy to hear about her godchildren. She has overheard the conversation between Bucky and Peter. The fact that Stark gave his main tower to interns is unusual, but it's not so surprising that she doesn’t believe it. The fact that Peter and the other interns use the living room to watch cartoons and place legos does affect her. She just can’t place how, nor care that much to look into it.

So when she and her family arrive at floor 96 it doesn’t seem any different from the previous training room. Darn, and Peter had made it seem like there really was something interesting. Peter keeps smiling, however.

“If you guys could please just stand right here I can show you just how special this room really is”. Peter asks and they all follow to the designated marked circle curiosity peaked. Peter then presses a button on the wireless earphone he has on. Nothing could have prepared her for what happened next.

“Avengers may I present to you the first ever collaboration between Horizon Labs, Octavius Industries, and Stark Labs. The newly updated and highly customizable Avenger training room”. Peter exclaims and the next thing she knows. The floor surrounding the Avengers little perch falls away.

“Extended three floors down for versatile vertical training simulations the Stark issued nanotechnology allows for the creation of nearly any and all types of environments”. Peter says as a New York alleyway forms using what looks like little beads until they solidify into a concrete texture.

“They can create rough, smooth, sticky, and watery floors and walls. It also allows the environment to move with you as long as it has the data for it. For example. All of New York City is programmed into the software meaning that you could, if you wanted to, walk around the entirety of New York up to three stories high”. As if to prove his point Peter has everyone one walk in a certain direction and the city moves with them the rooftop behind them disappearing to form the new appearing area. Peter calls for mud and the nanobots making up the floor spread apart so that the Avengers have a hard time lifting their feet off the ground. He calls for concrete and the bots make it so. It's incredible and Natasha will definitely be using this room for more than the labs.

“Octavius Industries has provided the voice recognition software so that you can tell Karen the specific environment you want to train in and she can tell the program what to do. O.I. has also provided the flexible robots needed to simulate civilians and humanoid enemies. Horizon labs have added a day and night mode as well as a weather module should you feel it necessary to train in artificial rain at night”. Once more the young man showcases the features he talked about by making the simulation show it. The room goes dark and it seems as if street lamps light up while it starts to rain. Peter stops it once more only to lower the platform to the bottom floor of the three-story training room.

She can see Sam practically glow at the thought of a training room that allows him to fly. Bucky, Steve, and Clint all look ready to test out the new simulations. Bruce doesn’t look all too excited at the prospect of fighting but looks entranced by the technology used in the room. 

Thor, Wanda, and Vision all seem rather nervous about the development, however. If Natasha had to guess for each of them she would say that Thor’s nervousness stemmed from the fact that his power is known to potentially permanently damage certain things, Wanda from her powers focusing more on the mental aspects  and the ability to throw an object without her mind, Vision’s might result from the prospect of fighting more robots with no right or thought process to protect themselves.

Before she can contemplate her family’s motivations and expressions Peter leads them to the elevator once more.

“As you all know training can get… well, a bit dangerous. Especially when dealing with enhanced and highly capable team members. As such the next floor below us is the medical ward”. Peter says. Natasha notices that Peter has lost that bravado he carried in the training room.

“Should any of you get hurt, it is imperative that you reach this room. Even if doing so means working with some people you don't like, or sucking up your pride to ask your teammates for help”. Peter finishes and his face is dead serious. Natasha for once is worried about someone she just met as in his eyes she can see a wealth of experience just below the surface. Someone so young shouldn't have that look in their eye when talking about medical help from combat.

The door dings open and they step out onto floor 93. The first two things Nasha notices is another person in the room, and a blanket covering something in the back. 

* * *

 

Now Steve was excited about the training room. No scratch that absolutely THRILLED. But now they were arriving at the medical wing, and from the way, Peter spoke this was a place not take lightly. As the door opens, the first thing Steve notices is the chill. The second is the man in the lab coat at one of the tables. He seems to be one of the few older people in this building. It's a little relieving as Steve was starting to feel like an old man, but then again he is technically 107 years old.

The man apparently hears them enter. He turns and, oh, oh no. The man is missing his right arm, except, unlike Bucky who is staring at the man with no small amount of curiosity, he doesn't have a prosthetic arm, just a stump where an arm once was.

“Hey there Doctor Connors. As you can see I brought you, several new patients. Knowing them I'm gonna say they are going to be frequent visitors”. Peter says with an almost teasing tone, leaning towards the man.

“Well, it's good to know you and your friends will be getting their money's worth out of me”. The doctor says with a roll of his eyes picking up the cup of what could only be assumed as coffee on the desk with his remaining arm before taking a swig. Steve can't help but notice how his best friend looks at his own artificial metal arm.

“I'm sure the money isn't too bad though" Peter says sitting up on one of the unoccupied spaces on the desk. The doctor chuckles into his drink before bringing the drink away from his mouth.

“Not at all Peter. Besides, it's not as if I need it seeing as I hardly leave this place”. Dr. Connors states about to take another sip of his drink before stopping himself.

“Speaking of this place” Peter begins. “This isn't the only room on this floor. There is actually whole other back section designated for therapy. There are enough rooms and therapists for everyone to have an individual session at the same time. There is even a big area for group therapy. And if you ever get worried about confidentiality you can always be assured that your records will be locked in a safe where only other therapists, all sworn to secrecy, can see”.

“Speaking of records”, Dr. Connors says turning towards the Avengers putting down his cup and grabbing a stack of papers, starting to hand them out to everyone, “I need you guys to fill these out. It should give me a baseline for painkillers, healing factors, allergies, the works, enhanced individual or not”. He places a packet in Steve's hands and the Captain begins flipping through it. There are only three pens and so they are forced to take turns. 

Bucky uses the pen to fill out the questions first. Steve doesn't mind, it gives him a moment to observe. Natasha, Wanda, and Bucky are currently filling out their papers. Sam is on his phone, Thor and Clint are talking about their families, and Vision is helping Wanda fill out some of her family records as she doesn't quite know them herself. 

Steve notices that Peter, still sitting on the desk looking like a relaxed teenager despite wearing a business suit, and Connors, with his drink in hand again as he leans against the adjacent wall, are talking back and forth. Steve can make from the short snippets he hears that Peter is fascinated by the doctor’s personal research and that the man, in turn, is invested in Peter's own interests and health.

As Peter tells a joke making both men laugh, Steve notices Banner off in a corner looking at a holographic display. With time to spare Rodgers heads off towards his teammate.

“What are you looking at?” The scientist slightly startles at the captain’s question.

“Just some interesting research. It is important to note that Connors has somewhat prepared for us if these notes are anything to go by” Bruce says pointing to some of the displayed documents. Steve is confused.

“How is he able to research and prepared for us when he hadn't even met us yet?” He asks.

“That's because it's not his research. Its Helen's”. Banner responds.

“Who?” Steve asks not remembering any Helens.

“Dr. Helen Cho. You know the really nice woman who was able to engineer painkillers for you.” Oh her. Steve remembers her. He must have not caught her first name. But, just to be sure.

“Wasn’t she also the one who never took any of Tony's bs?” Steve asks and the scientist replies with “Yep, that's the one, but don't get her confused with Pepper. Despite being a self-proclaimed playboy Tony sure does prefer to surround himself with women who won't take any of his crap”. 

“That's because he knows they're the only ones smart enough to”. Steve replies with no hesitation. The two men share a smile and a small chuckle at that. In their little corner, it's quiet for a moment.

“Did you find anything else interesting?” Steve asks Banner as he hears the pens being exchanged behind them. 

“Nothing else you would be interested in”. The man replies and Steve can’t help but feel a bit hurt. Did Banner really think the only reason he came over was to ask for a report? This won’t stand. They are a team and Steve, Captain America, is determined to bring everyone together again. This includes Banner, no Bruce being included more. So he starts out simple.

“I wasn't asking for a report, Bruce. I was asking about what interested you”. He states and oh dear the man is looking at him weird. The captain stands strong though, and after a few seconds, Bruce has a small smile on his face.

“Well, I did find a few exceptionally complex research papers on the splicing and combining of human and animal DNA for new somewhat natural restoration processes. It is really interesting in this particular section right here…” The doctor says swiping the holographic images to a paper and zooming in on the spot he is talking about. 

Steve despite only being able to pick up bits and pieces listens invested fully in Bruce's explanation on how the paper tells of how the theoretical successful merging of lizard and human DNA could result in the regrowing of a lost limb in amputees.

After a moment the duo begins to walk in different currently unoccupied areas to talk. 

“And the specific section analyzing the use of jellyfish genes for possible extension of life is…” Bruce is suddenly cut off by the sound of what seems to be tapping on glass. The two look around only to see not even a single window in sight. Even more worrying is the fact that the sound hasn't stopped. 

Steve uses his super hearing to locate where the source is possibly comic from. The tapping is softer, but a bit more frequent now that they are closer. Whatever it is, it is covered by a dark navy blue blanket. 

The two seemingly through mental communication decide that this poses a threat, and while Bruce is more hesitant than Steve to invade the privacy of Doctor Connors, they both share a nod and begin to reach for the blanket in order to uncover what's underneath.

Only to be interrupted by Thor wrapping a single arm each over a shoulder of both Banner and Rodgers. In his hands are the two pens needed to sign their papers.

“Friends!” The god very nearly bellows in their ears. “Won’t you both join me in the giving of information to the stump man?” Banner quite literally gets within an inch of a heart attack and grabs his chest to slow his raging heart. Steve just balks at the term ‘stump man’ but manages to recover enough to give a weak smile.

“Of course, Thor. But would you mind if…” Steve begins only to be cut off as the god starts to drag the scientist and soldier to where their papers wait to be filled out. 

“Come friends! This will be a glorious act of giving!” Thor says. Steve just looks up to the God, then to the blanket, and finally to Bruce, shooting him an exasperated work. The man just smiles shrugging his shoulders as if to say ‘‘oh well’. Steve notes that he doesn't seem as concerned about the situation as he should be as they are placed on the chairs next to their papers.

They begin to fill out their papers but Steve has a new lingering question in his mind. Placed right next to “Where the heck is Tony?” the question of “What was underneath the blanket?” forms.

The team finished their forms and as they are about them to put the papers on a nearby desk, the one-armed doctor just takes the last sip of his coffee smacking his lips slightly and when putting his now empty cup down says.

“Just hand those to me I can input them into the computer much sooner that way, without risk of losing them in the mess that is that desk”. Wanda hands the man the pages and Peter hoists himself off the desk he claimed as his seat nearly half an hour ago and begins to lead the Avengers to the elevator again. He waves and says goodbye to the doctor as he goes, receiving a small wave and ‘adios’ in return. 

Once they are all crammed in the elevator once more, Steve can see some of the team getting a bit tired. Between the jet ride here, the carrying of their boxes inside, and this tour everyone is getting a bit tired. What makes it worse is that the uh still don't know how many floors they have to go. Steve can tell some other members of the team feel the same way.

Peter either makes an executive decision to shorten the tour or is hiding something because instead of calling out for floor 92 he calls out for floor 91. A few sigh in relief, but others like Natasha, Bucky, and Steve himself grow wary. 

The way Peter goes uncharacteristically quiet doesn't help. Despite not knowing Peter for more than a few hours the kid has been nothing but a chatterbox, even when not leading the tour group, he stops to chat and shake heads. So when the young man straightens his back and sighs it sends all sorts of red flags in Steve's head. 

Clint noticing the three’s aloofness decides to comment on it saying something along the lines of ‘what's up with the skipping of a floor Pete?’. Even more worrying is Peter continued silence. Even those who were relaxing before aren't anymore. Then Steve hears it. The muted voice of Peter.

“I don't recommend that floor unless absolutely necessary. I'm sure you'll have to go in there at some point or another anyways”. Because of the confined space, the silence,  and everyone's close proximity, Steve is sure everyone hears it but chooses not to comment.

The elevator dings and they enter floor 91. Where floor 93 was barely chilly in its cold temperature, floor 91 is far worse. Steve can feel an almost bite in the air. 

“Welcome to floor 91”. Peter says seemingly back to his regular plucky self. “Our weapon storage and circuitry room. We store all new Avenger tech in this room as we wouldn't have the space, or accessibility, on any other floor. 

The reason it's so cold in here is because of the aforementioned circuits. In order to prevent overheating, this floor has a powerful air cooling system. Should that system be shut off, emergency protocols dictate that vents leading to the outside shall be opened to allow cool air from the outside to flow in through a very small steel mesh creating a draft. This should keep the system cool enough long enough for our technicians on the lower floor to diagnose and fix the cooling system.

Now, why is this important? This entire floor has been designated by the staff here as the preparation floor. It prepares the Avengers for any world needs saving missions as well as runs power to all of the vital controls on the top ten floors that are separate from the rest of the building. Even going as far as having its own small backup arc reactor.

The function of these controls is to maintain the security locks, firewalls, and servers for the towers AI Karen. Should these systems fail, we will be weak to a common hacker, any big or small villain, and Karen will shut down taking the entire tower’s functioning light sources, elevators, and defensive protocols with her.

Without this room, we are as defenseless as battling a powerful alien on their home planet. Because of the known threat the Avengers and their allies pose to both the criminal underworld and any small-time thief, the second this tower shows even the smallest nick in its shield everyone is going to be jumping on the opportunity.

Now with that spiel done and over with let's get out of this cold room and into the more comfortable floors. Whaddya say?”

Everyone is still reeling a bit at the long and fast explanation of this floor. However, Wanda and Vision just calmly walk back into the elevator apparently ready to go. Soon everyone follows. They can explore this place and its features later. For now, it probably best if they listen to Peter and go to the warmer more comfortable floors. As Bruce, who has been wanting to sleep all day, makes a mention sounding like ‘bed, comfy, sleep’ everyone agrees that going to the bedrooms is the best option.

As they enter the elevator heading for floor 99 Peter begins to describe them their limitations. They are allowed on floors 100 through 90. Floor 90 was apparently the place where they first met Peter. It was also the crime tracking and monitoring hub. A control center for heroes if you will.

That is also the place where security is the highest. Only a select few have the cards needed to get access to the upper floors. The Avengers one of them. But due to having that black shield on their ID it was a one-way entry.  Even janitors don't have the cards to access these upper levels. 

Apparently, after the last true janitorial worker, named Stan, died a peaceful death all sorts of villains, both big and small, had tried to infiltrate and steal important information under the disguise of the new janitor. This caused every janitor to lose access to the top floors. This is what had inspired the spider robot actually. Apparently, Spider-man came in one day with the idea and Peter had implemented it. Steve swears he hears Sam mutter, ‘course it was him’ at that part. So now it is the Avengers job to clean up after themselves as there are no janitors or spiderbots to help.

The elevator dings and Peter tells them about their schedule as Bruce enters his bedroom grabbing a toothbrush and entering the bathroom, making sure to leave the door open so he can step outside and hear Peter as he talks. 

Tomorrow, like every Monday, apparently, they are to train in combat, on Tuesdays they are to go through a physical checkup, depending on the injury or even just normal health this can range from a simple blood pressure check to full-blown examination. They must've had had too many close calls. Wednesdays are therapy days, anyone not going to therapy are to work at F.E.A.S.T. volunteering. Thursdays are going to be a class on social media etiquette with MJ. If the people are to start trusting the Avengers again they need to relate and social media is just the place to do it. Friday more training. This time frequented with visits from Spiderman and occasionally some people called the Defenders and another group called the X-Men. Saturdays, more volunteering work. This time to wherever they want with a chaperone. They will be forced to pair up and every two weeks the pairs will be randomized. Sundays are a free day. They are allowed to do whatever they please that day as long as they either stay in the tower or have a guard or two follow them to town. 

 

“I gotta take this, one sec”. Peter says as his phone begins to vibrate in his pocket. He chuckles holding a one moment sign.

“Hi. Yeah. Oh. Uh huh”. Peter says the phrases getting an increasingly more worried face on as he continues to listen.

“Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. See you in a bit. Oh and be safe. Alright, see ya soon”. He ends the call with the person and Steve can’t help but wonder who was on the other side.

“I'm so sorry guys but I really have to get going. It’s kinda an emergency and I need to be there”. He says looking extremely apologetic.

“It’s alright kid we understand. Thanks for the tour”. Clint says with a smile and Steve can see Peter's shoulder lower in a little bit of relief.

“I promise I'll make it up to guys. How does pizza sound for dinner?” Everyone nods their head in clear excitement. 

“Alright. Oh! Almost forgot. I got a little challenge if you're up for it. Whoever can figure out my schedule first wins an upgrade to a weapon or outfit of their choice. For those participating, I wish you good luck as I deviate a lot on a daily basis. Alright, gotta go, else there'll be tee trouble. Bye!” Peter shouts as he leaves practically sprinting down the hall towards the elevator. Bruce closes his door soon after and Steve doubts the man will be out of bed before noon tomorrow. 

‘What a strange day’. Steve thinks. What a strange day indeed.

* * *

 

Sam hasn't been having the greatest day. First, he has to pull Bucky out of guilt mode. Then he comes to Stark tower with the intention of making things right again, only to find that Tony isn't here, in fact, they don’t have any clue to where the guy is. 

If that's not bad enough suddenly weird, terrifying sanitation spiders start coming out of the walls and he ends up having a mental breakdown. Then he has to go to a medical lab and learn that he has to take required therapy and while not necessarily bad, it certainly wasn't what he wanted to do with his time. 

As he recounts his day, the remaining awake Avengers head to the living room. They use their IDs in the scanner and it works. As they reach their destination they notice that the Incredibles is still on. The rest of the Avengers don’t seem to mind and do want that want with a partner. Sam is left alone so he turns to the TV. It seems that there are several different stations to turn to.

Wanting to change what's being watched yet but knowing who turned the movie on in the first place Sam does the only logical thing to do. He switches to a different station so as not to disturb the movie. 

He sifts through channels until he finds the local news. They are covering a memorial. The memorial is set in Times Square where apparently a deadly attack was launched by a villain a year ago. A lot of people died. Like a lot. The news even shows the death toll and man, Sam's a little glad he wasn't here when it was going on. Suddenly Clint and Natasha are to his right, their computer screen is pulled up on records of Michelle Jones and Ned Leeds, but the two are drawn towards the news. Bucky and Steve soon join in on watching the report on Sam's left. Everyone seems horrified by the news.

“In other news construction on the damaged buildings from last years attacks is almost complete” The reports seemed to just go on and on. Death, destruction, poverty, concentration camps. What had happened while they were away.

Mayor Osborn, ‘Osborn? Like in OsCorp?’ Sam thinks. The man is apparently leading the charge against crime by ordering Sable,’Sable? What's Sable?’ soldiers out of New York and using the money that would be spent on the Sable agents instead buffing security up in the Raft and other prisons like it.

The news report is cut off by some breaking news. The TV screen cuts to a report covering a live battle between NYCWallCrawler and a new villain. It then cuts to some of the high tech camera footage on the street and… wait a minute. Sam recognizes that suit. The red and blue colors, the big eyes. The spider emblem on his chest.

It’s that little punk from the airport in Germany!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus:  
> Peter in his lab: *looking around*  
> Peter: "Alright, the coast is clear".  
> *opens up the grate in the vents and holds out his arms underneath the opening*  
> *a waterfall of spiderbots falls into Peter's waiting arms*  
> Peter: "My children" uwu  
> *spiderbots chirp in response to being hugged*  
> Flash coming back from unpacking a ton of boxes: "Are you still calling them your children?"  
> Peter: "What else would they be Flash?"  
> Flash: "Do I least get to be a godparent?"  
> Peter: "You know Ned got dibs".  
> Flash: "Damn".  
> \----------------------------  
> Let me know if you prefer the shorter more frequent chapters or the longer chapters with more of a wait time.  
> Up Next: Monday training.  
> Feel free to leave a comment and as always thank you for reading and I hope you have a good day.


	6. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday training and things are not as they seem with some of the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ  
> \-----------  
> To begin this note I am so sorry for the delay. A work overload burned me out and while not an excuse by any means it is what happened to me. This chapter in itself was an interesting experience for me. I have never truly written extreme emotion before or any type of physical activity either and those were the main focus. And so I had to rely on personal experience to try and convey the scene.
> 
> As such I am unsure of how to address the emotional incident in Steve's perspective. I don't know if it counts as a panic attack or if the imagery is described in enough detail to be graphic or violent. So fair warning anyway, I suppose. If it does count as graphic depiction please tell me so that I may update the tags.
> 
> With all that said I hope you enjoy the long-delayed chapter.

“Mr. Rogers it is currently seven am. The mandatory team training scheduled today will start in one hour” A voice calls from the ceiling. Steve tries to remember the name Peter had called her. Carly? No, it began with a k. Katie? Karen? That sounds right.

“Thank you Karen” the reply comes groggily from sleep. Steve sits up in his bed a groan escaping. He begins his routine of stretches. He would usually take a shower before but since it is training day that should probably be saved for afterward. Teeth, however, would come first today.

The soldier leaves his room for the bathroom. Except it seems that the rest of his team has the same ideas as him. For the first time in 9 years, it seems the group is having an average civilian problem. There are not enough bathrooms.

The first time they were here they had set schedules. They woke up at different times for different reasons. They easily lived and worked with each other as if they were a well-oiled machine.

In Wakanda, they did whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, and if for some reason individuals woke at the same time there were enough bathrooms to spare. They lived in a palace after all.

It is due to this that Steve is annoyed at his situation. But with this thought at this moment Steve is taken aback.

With startling clarity, a comparison comes to his mind. Even when fugitives they had more freedom they currently have. They had grown accustomed to living like royalty when they should have had a harder time than the average citizen. After his own atrocities, he was given a better life than ever before, including when he lived off of, quite literally, a billionaires’ salary.

On top of that, the well-oiled machine the team once was has been left to rust and left to sit collecting as much dust as to create a layer as thick as that which currently covers the majority of these rooms. And Steve has no one to blame but himself.

His mind brings him to his own childhood. Of living in cramped living quarters in Brooklyn. Of when he wasn’t a super soldier and instead of a weak boy with nothing more than dreams of serving his country. And Steve is suddenly very, very, aware of all that has occurred.

It is made disturbingly clear that for many years now he has forgotten what it means to be normal. That such a normal thing as a single bathroom on a floor with people who need to use it at the same time has become such an annoyance. Has become such a burden.

When injected with the serum he was immediately made captain. He was placed in separate quarters and was relieved of ever doing the demeaning latrine duties any normal soldier was forced into. And it wasn’t because he was selfless. That might have been the reason Howard had given him the drug but the government only made him captain when he could be a poster boy.

And for the first time in a long time, Steve wonders if jumping on top of that grenade that never went off would have even made a miniscule difference if Howard hadn’t been there. And in the bottom of the captain’s gut, something drops. Because, ultimately, Steve knows that nothing would have. He knows that if no one ever administered that super drug to him it wouldn’t have even mattered if the grenade went off or not.

Many soldiers died in wars. On D-Day, alone bodies stretched for miles for what seems such a little bit of land. With every body only adding what seemed to be an ocean of red. What would be of one dead boy from Brooklyn? Without that serum, Steve knows that at some point that boy with a single mother with the plethora of medical conditions would be someone who only came home in the form of dog tags.

In so many ways Howard had shielded that boy from that fate. Crafted not just a shield out of the strongest metal on earth but a shield formed out of the opinions implanted into the minds of men. And Steve had used both shields as weapons against that very man’s son and his own good friend.

The feeling in gut sinks lower to the point of pain and begins to swirl. Steve the last in the line to the bathroom and it is his turn now. He closes the door calmly behind him despite the whirlpool internal. As the door clicks shut and the lock is placed Steve retches into the porcelain bowl.

Last night’s pieces of pizza, nothing more than acid at this point, come forth with a pink hue caused by too many cherry sodas, and Steve silently sobs. This feeling is familiar at this point. Several years ago when he had realized just how much he utterly fucked his friends and family over the feelings started.

They grew worse and worse until nearly every day he was on his knees giving his last meals to whatever waste basin was closest.  
It had come to a head when Steve had left the palace one night and came back the next morning dry tear tracks on his face having bought and downed an entire streets’ supply of alcohol with not even a buzz to show for it.

Bucky had been there for him but Sam had helped him cope. It got better for a while and the talks became less frequent. The episodes had become nearly nonexistent but they began once again after a few months.

They happened about once a week and were not nearly as explosive as before, but Steve promised himself he wouldn’t talk about it. Call it being old fashioned or call it an excuse but Steve would not let his team look at him with the pity they did that day or even worse allow his emotions to be the cause of the concern aging his team.  
  
So even if this is the worst episode he has had in years. He will keep quiet because damn it all he deserves this. This is a righteous punishment for his crimes he will never atone for. He was supposed to apologize to Tony but the man might be too damaged to even look at them and it is all Steve’s fault. He’s resigned himself to never atoning.

And these thoughts continue to run rampant, tearing and ripping at the Captain’s mind. Stripping away his confidence and esteem like paint off old walls. He vomits. His stomach emptying into the bowl until there is nothing left to give.

Steve takes a few minutes to pick up the pieces of a façade he has been forced to craft and for a brief moment, a voice whispers in the back of his mind that he now knows exactly why Stark acted the way he did.

He stands with not even a wobble and wipes the seat down with the toilet paper and flushes it all down. He walks to the mirror and washes his face of the tears and vomit stains. Steve brushes his teeth and smiles and now not even a smell will remain of what has happened.

With a quick look at his wristwatch and the incident which has felt like hours has only been a few minutes. A brief flash of disappointment at the incident not lasting longer, at the torment being essentially extended, only to be batted away with a better thought process.

This is his grand punishment, isn’t it, so why wouldn’t it make time slower? Besides he is, vainly, trying to achieve redemption, and did anyone ever say that road was easy?

* * *

Clint watches everyone slowly join him in the training room. He, aside from Flash, was the first to arrive in the room. He has been making pleasant small talk with his team members.

It is a little hard considering that he and they have changed a lot in their time apart, but it wasn’t like they originally divulged in their innermost fears in everyday conversation anyway. They’ll get back to it he’s sure. Besides what was the old saying? Distance makes the heart grow fonder?  
As Rodgers enters the room he feels these emotions come to a crescendo. They may be still incomplete and disorganized but they are mostly together. Here they are after years of being fugitives and criminals, veterans of a war reuniting as an old team to right old wrongs and save the world in the process.

Clint would be happy to report to any supervisor that he is feeling very optimistic about the future for the first time in a long time.

A clap reverberates the room and conversation halts. Eugene, the cause of the noise starts speaking.

“Alright, guys a few training requirements today. We will be doing a physical assessment so I hope you left your weapons at the door. If not please dispose of them near the elevator doors”. At this request. Clint moves towards the door with Thor. However, noticing the distinct lack of Natasha moving he retreats to nudge her towards the door.

She in response looks at him with what would be considered a dead look. To Clint though her eyes scream an exasperation of ‘really?’ with tints of fear. And Clint understands. Their weapons are their tools, their specialties and without them despite being better physically than most humans they don’t even compare to the enhanced individuals surrounding them.

Clint meets her stare and whispers so low no one should be able to hear the words but her. “Just like in the beginning. It’s not that different from our practice at Sheild. We didn’t need weapons then to show off did we?”

She pauses and shakes her head ever so slightly and the ghost of a smile graces her face. Small but telling Clint exactly what he needs to know. She’s going to be fine. They walk together naturally synchronized and deposit their weapons.

Flash begins again “I am like 99 percent sure that you don’t need me to tell you the manners of training. But I have been required to tell you at the very least that this training day unlike the other is meant for team bonding and that the occasional assessment will be the exception where competition between members is encouraged.” He sighs.

“Sorry I just really hate doing the contract talks. But my requirements are over and yours are just starting. So without more delay, you should get on the training floor”. At his words, nine xs appear and all members step on them as instructed. Clint specifically taking the spot next to Nat which also places him next to Bruce.

“For this assessment, the bots will separate into nine segments each exactly the same terrain projected at personal rates. This way everything is fair. We will be testing agility, cardio, and strength.

You will also be given several situations in which multiple ways to go forward will be given testing your natural preferences. You are being timed so go as fast as you can even in endurance. Do not hold back and do not hesitate”. He looks around as the particles materialize making the floor beneath them, takes a breath and…

“Go!”

And Clint starts running and while stationary it feels no different than running through streets on a battlefield. He can feel his pulse and breathing pick up in preparation for a jump when a log appears in the path. And soon Clint falls into a rhythm.

He runs and jumps and climbs. He swings and crawls and moves objects when need be. His heart is pumping blood at a steady beat that drowns out nearly all sound even with his hearing aids. His breathing has steadied and his mind is so quick at analyzing the situation it feels like time slows.

Through inclines and shallow slopes, he keeps running as fast as he can set to beat of his own heart. The terrain constantly changing by the minute. In these few minutes, he runs across cities streets and traverses swamps.

He falls into his own world where there is nothing but running. Nothing but the strip of land in front of him and the sound of his own heartbeat.

The terrain flattens and he continues his pace finding it slightly faster than before. Moments later his muscles start to scream. His arms without a bow and arrow are left to remain at his sides and the motion of swing has caused Clint’s blood to pool at the fingertips.

He is sweating so profusely that he takes one of his not properly circulated arms to wipe away the droplets. He takes the moment to look around.  
To the ground he sees his own feet moving so fast in their motion all he can make out is a blur.

His arms are pale and his fingers are red. His throat feels dry and his abdomen is struggling. But despite this, he does not stop. He is not at his limit and won’t stop until he drops.

He looks to the left to see his fellow spy still in a world of her own. Her terrain is flat much like his meaning she near the same place he is.  
  
Looking a little further left he sees his other team members. Steve while sweating does not appear tired. Barnes isn’t sweating but his breathing is labored. Their paces match.

Sam, however, seems to be blind his arms moving up and down to keep sweat and… are those tears out of his eyes. His legs are at a slow walk and Clint is reminded that without the suit Falcon is just another man.

Vision is matching his pace with Wanda seemingly content to stop when she does. Clint supposes that it makes sense Vision being an android could keep efficiency longer than even an enhanced human so what does he have to prove. The problem becomes, however, that he is barely moving.  
  
Wanda, who Vision is matching, is so red in the face Clint hopes she won’t pop a blood vessel. Her face bulges with exertion and her she seems to be struggling to breathe. It would be worrying if it wasn't exercising, but her body will be spent soon and will force her to stop one way or another.

To his right Clint finds… no one? He looks slightly down and Bruce is on the unique ground hyperventilating his chest moving up and down at nearly the same pace as Clint’s legs. Mr. Barton is then stuck in a predicament. Stop and help his colleague or keep going and complete the assessment.

Not slowing his pace Clint searches for Flash. He finds him on the sideline watching Banner intently. As if feeling his stare Flash looks up to meet his eyes. The man then calmly points to Bruce and gives a thumbs up and a flourish of hands as if to say, ‘I got him, continue’.

Clint looks ahead and his strip and seeing no more obstacles checks once more to his left intent on finding and seeing how Thor is faring. He seems to be on the same stretch of land as everyone else sans Bruce. But all of a sudden Thor perks up as a log materializes in front of him. He jumps over it with ease.

It is due to his observation of his team members that Clint fails to notice that very same log appear in his own lane. The program deciding to make everyone jump at the same time means that while Clint was watching Thor jump over the log he was thoroughly failing to jump his own.

Clint feels it before he sees it. He feels his feet catch on the hard surface and feels as his legs begin to roll on the top of the log his feet leaving the ground. He looks forward on basic instinct only to find the fast approaching ground.

The next thing heard is a loud crunch but only those who have already stopped notice Clint’s fall. Wanda sluggishly looks towards the noise from her knees as Vision snaps to the sound from his standing position.

Sam glances from his position panting against the very same log Clint has tripped over on his simulation. And Sam starts to laugh. A few small puffs soon turning into hysterical giggles and finally full cackles. Clint does look ridiculous after all with his tongue sticking out jaw clenched and feet high up in the air and he just can’t help but laugh.

Clint slowly comes back into his senses. His vision blacked momentarily and he is pretty sure that during his fall he ended up biting his tongue and lip. He can feel two new bruises forming on his legs and to add insult to injury he is certain that he can hear Wilson laughing.

He groans and he can hear Bruce laugh without much breath next to him.

“At least… I’m not… alone… on the floor… now. Tell me… is your… world… spinning… too?”

“No but there is a pulsing”, and Clint can tell that he said with a slight lisp. And Banner’s body starts to shake not out of oxygen deprivation but out of laughter. Sam’s laughter becomes even more hysterical if it was possible and even a few chuckles escape the breathless witch and cold android.

“My world is spinning Bruce”. Sam somehow admits through his laughter.

“I… can’t…*huff*…breathe” The raspy voice of Wanda calls out. And her breath is just as fast as Bruce’s.

“Question Dr. Banner do you have asthma?” Vision inquires. A shaky nod on Bruce’s part.

“Then it seems that both you and Wanda are having an asthma attack right now. Mr. Thompson…” The android addresses Flash. The head of security’s head snaps up from his view of the surroundings.

“While it seems Dr. Banner's asthma is milder than others I would still suggest getting them treatment. It seems, however, that if we move the technology prevents us from moving. Can you stop this?” With a sure nod, Flash looks up.

“Karen please stop lanes 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9.”

“Certainly Flash”. And all five of them find themselves without nanoparticle ground. Sam’s body slumps to the ground. A groan of pain follows.

“It seems I am gonna agree with Barton on this as well. There certainly is a pulsing”.

“Bird bros suffer together right?” Clint says beginning to stand up, his muscles screaming at him.

“You got that right”. Sam replies taking the standing Vision’s hands. Clint helps Bruce get to his feet supporting him along the way.

“Look… at them… they… don’t even… notice”. Bruce says vaguely lifting his arm to gesture to the ones still in the focus zone, continuing to leap and jump over obstacles.

“Let’s just be glad they won’t get like this on missions”. Sam says approaching the other side of Bruce taking half of the weight off of Clint. They enter the elevator for the next floor down. Wanda and Bruce’s erratic breathing.

The doors open and Doctor Connors is ready with two inhalers.

“Well, you’re certainly fast”. Sam says as Connors hands the inhalers to the two.

“I have your medical records and a feed of the training room. Now let me see the damage done to you two. Can never be too careful even with enhancements. We all have weak points”.

“Like the story of the hero Achilles” Vision pipes in.

“Yes exactly like that” Connors replies.

Hey Doc how long did we train for it feels like quite a bit”. Clint asks.

“I would hope so. Bruce stopped after an hour. Wanda started to exhibit signs at the two-hour mark and lasted till a full six hours with the rest of you and your team members are still going. I expected the Avengers to last long but I did not expect that”.

“Holy fucking shit”. Surprisingly its Bruce that exclaims.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus:  
> Peter on his lunch break: "Clint is looking around the room".  
> Shuri sitting next to him with a lap full of spider bots: "I still feel bad for Bruce".  
> Peter: "who is going to drop next, the suspense is killing me".  
> Peter: *starts to down a shot of orange juice*  
> Clint: *Gets WASTED*  
> Peter: *spit take*  
> *spiderbots start beeping in concern*  
> Shuri, the meme goddess at full volume: "Oh! He needs some MILK!"  
> \-----------------------------------  
> So... Steve has some issues.  
> Up Next: Tuesday check-up and free time.  
> Feel free to comment.


End file.
